Comparing Calvinism And Arminianism And Two Systems Of...

There is no debate in the Christian community that over 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ died on the cross. However, the question raised by many is just â€Å"who† did he die for? Whose sins did he atone? Did he die for all of us or only the elect? Many Christians have openly debated about just how one is saved for centuries, but not everyone sees eye-to-eye on the matter. Both Calvinism and Arminianism, two systems of theology, â€Å"attempt to explain the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in the matter of salvation† (Calvinism vs. Arminianism). Just what is Calvinism and Arminianism? Which group of thoughts is right? Where did they come from? Before being able to answer that question, one must understand each†¦show more content†¦He was born in Oudewater, Holland in 1560, the same year â€Å"John Calvin was busy establishing the Genevan Academy to propagate his ideas of predestination† (Jacob Arminius, C hristian History). In 1575 Arminius started attending the University of Leyden. While there, the municipal authorities of Amsterdam agreed to pay all of Arminius’s academic expenses in return for his pledge to spend the remainder of his life serving the Amsterdam church (Christian History Institute). A year after he began his public ministry in 1588, the ecclesiastical senate of Amsterdam asked Arminius to respond to the teachings of Dutch poet, translator, playwright, and moralist Dirk Coornhert. Coornhert rejected much of Calvin’s doctrine of predestination, justification, and punishment of heretics by death (Christian History Institute). â€Å"Weighing the arguments, Arminius thought Coornhert right, but would not commit himself until he had made a diligent study of the scriptures, the early church fathers, and later divines† (Christian History Institute). Arminius later became firmly against Calvinism after thoroughly studying the Epistle to the Romans. He found that â€Å"it is an eternal and gracious decree of God in Christ, by which he determines to justify and adopt believers, and to endow them with eternal life but to condemn unbelievers, and impenitent persons† (Galli 42). A year after Arminius’s death in 1609, Arminius’s followers came to be known as the